Audit Scotland Report on Tayside Fire & Rescue Board

Audit Scotland has published a Best Value Audit of Tayside Fire and Rescue. You can read Audit Scotland's press release about the report here. The report draws attention to a number of important areas, it suggests that the Board made the wrong decision with regard to Balmossie Fire Station, whilst at the same time also suggesting that the board does not challenge the officers enough.

As a member of Tayside Fire and Rescue Board I would respond as below.

Firstly, I would say that I believe that Tayside Fire and Rescue Service provides an excellent service to the people of Tayside and that this is due to good work by senior officers, firefighters and support staff.

I welcome the publication of this report, I think that it is important that elected members do listen to external voices about the operation of councils and joint boards. There are important points to take on board in this report, although I would also say that there are flaws in this report which would call into question the usefulness of the report.

I would, on the whole, agree that there is not a strong enough culture of scrutiny or challenge of the service within the board. Senior officers must be open to scrutiny. In the new structures which come about as a result of moves towards a single Fire and Rescue service it is important that the governance structures are clearly more than a rubber-stamp.

I am prepared to accept some of the criticism of the work of the board but it is at best surprising that after saying that there should be more challenge of officers that the board are then criticised for the one major occasion where the board diverged from the officers recommendations. The officers of Tayside Fire and Rescue did not convince the public of Tayside or the majority of members of the Fire Board that the proposed changes to Balmossie Fire Station were the correct way forward. It is just plain wrong to consult the public and then totally ignore the responses given. I accept that board members need to balance the responses which we receive. In the case of Balmossie it is clear that on both occasions there was a campaign against the changes and that the Fire Brigades Union was involved in that campaign. I am frankly shocked by the content of paragraph 24 of the report. It seems to suggest that because the FBU was involved in encouraging people to respond to the consultation that all opposition is invalid. There are between two and three hundred FBU members in Dundee, there were thousands of people who took the time to register their opposition. The report states that the 'vast majority' of responses were from FBU members. If the report is so wrong on this matter can we take the rest of it seriously? How credible is the audit when it got this so wrong? To suggest that board members should not listen to the views of trade unions is astonishing. It smacks of a tin-pot dictatorship that we should ignore the views of people because a trade union might have been involved, however tangentially, in encouraging them to make their views known. Even if it were the case that the vast majority of responses were from a trade union is Audit Scotland seriously suggesting that the board should ignore these responses and limit the civil liberties of trade unions and trade unionists?

With regard to Balmossie it should be remembered that on both occasions when the proposals were rejected there was broad cross-party support for rejecting the proposals. It might have been more appropriate to question what message it sends when a proposal is defeated that an identical proposal is brought again the following year. It would seem to question whether there is a belief that the board sets the strategy or not.

There is much to consider in this report but it does seem to have a major contradiction at its heart.

You can see a report from STV News Tayside which includes me giving my views here.

Community Spirit Meeting

On Tuesday evening I attended the first meeting of the year of Community Spirit. Community Spirit does an excellent job of representing the interests of residents in the northern part of the West End ward in the areas around Pentland, Tullideph, Ancrum and Cleghorn.

At tonight's meeting we heard about plans, which I have been campaigning for, to upgrade Blackness Library to improve access and ensure that there is increased community use of this building. There was also a presentation on the work of Sustrans. There are a number of areas in the West End which would benefit from the sort of work Sustrans are doing in Fife. Sustrans are hoping to work for ways to improve the environment in some residential areas.

It was also good to listen to the concerns of local people at tonight's meeting.

Friary to be re-opened as City Church Dundee

Today I was lucky enough to meet with Craig Stocks of City Church Dundee to discuss their plans for the Friary in Tullideph Road. I am really pleased that the church will be brought back into use. I was worried that the site would remain unused and that this would lead to the buildings being vandalised. I was very disappointed when the Friary closed in 2010. I hope that there is new life brought into this part of the West End ward by this development.

City Church Dundee have plans to bring a vibrant programme of events, not just worship, back to the church and complex. I would like to wish them all the very best in this.

Visit to Deaf Links

I was really pleased to visit Deaf Links today. It was great to learn about the work of Deaf Links. Councillors, and all politicians, must try and keep up to date with the issues which impact on the lives of their constituents, one issue which faces many constituents is deafness and hearing loss. Deaf Links are based alongside the Tayside Deaf Hub in the former Tayworks Jute Mill and this looks like a good facility in the West End ward. I would like to wish Deaf Links all the very best for the future. I am happy to make appropriate arrangements for any deaf or hearing impaired constituent who wants to raise issues with me.

Tayside Fire & Rescue Board

On Monday morning I was at a meeting of Tayside Fire and Rescue Board. You can see the agenda here. The main item was the budget for 2012/13. I asked a number of questions about the staff costs assumptions on which the budget is based these are found in section 3.1 of the report. There is an assumption that there will be no increase in pay either for firefighters or support staff although the negotiations have not yet been completed.

The Quarterly Activity Report highlighted a lot of work being done by Tayside Fire & Rescue. There was a lot in information about the works which are on-going towards the establishment of a Single Fire and Rescue Service in Scotland. I congratulated the service on the on-going improvements in dealing with problems around Bonfire Night. This is a result of good partnership working, even across Tayside the partnerships are different between Dundee, Perth City, Perth & Kinross and Angus. It takes local knowledge to develop these partnerships, it is crucial that issues such as this are at the forefront of the thoughts of those who are developing the new single fire service. How will local knowledge be factored in?

Tayside Police Joint Board

This morning I attended a meeting of Tayside Police Joint Board. You can see the agenda here. There was much discussion on some of the issues which face the police service as the Scottish Government moves towards a single national police force. We also set the budget for Tayside Police for 2012/13. In light of recent reports I asked about the use of police officers to do tasks which have previously been undertaken by police staff. I favour keeping police officer numbers up but it is not right that highly trained and resourced police officers should be utilised in roles where there is no need to be a police officer. One of the main trade unions representing police staff Unison has raised concerns about threats to the number of police staff and whether this is having an impact on the deployment of police officers. My colleague Jenny Marra MSP has raised her concerns about this as Scottish Labour Community spokesperson. I was told that there is only one post in Tayside which has been permanently filled by a police officer having previously been filled by a member of police staff.

There was a report on how Tayside Police are dealing with 999 calls and non-emergency calls. Tayside's response rate is below the Scottish average. I made the point that whilst we need take speed of response seriously it is important also that calls are dealt with appropriately.

I was very interested to see from the Operational Policing report that efforts are being made to deal with the trafficking of drugs through Dundee Railway Station. I hope that the partnerships between Tayside Police and British Transport Police continue to protect the community in Dundee and all users of Dundee Station. I was also interested to read about Operation Matterhorn which is dealing with the supply of drugs in Lochee and Charleston and surrounding areas. This is an important issue which needs to be dealt with and which has an impact on my ward. I know that my colleague Councillor Tom Ferguson is working very hard to deal with such issues.

Korean War Memorial Unveiled

On Friday afternoon I was pleased to attend a short ceremony where a Memorial was unveiled to those men from Dundee who died in the Korean War. The Korean War is often a forgotten conflict but I do think that it is important to remember these young men, mostly if not all on National Service. They went far from home to fight in support of a UN mandate. It was good to see veterans and also family members at the ceremony. We should do all we can to promote peace and justice in the world but we must also support and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country. The memorial is just inside the entrance to the City Chambers.

Co-ops: An answer to crony capitalism?

I am a member of the Co-operative Party and also of the Christian Socialist Movement. Recently I was asked by the Christian Socialist Movement to write a blog on co-operatives. You can read the blog post here. I do think that co-operatives do offer a real alternative and that their time has come.

Reassured over School Crossing Patrollers

I welcome the reassurance which I've received from the City Council's Education Department that school crossing patrollers will be in place from day one when the new primary schools and nursery school open on Blackness Road in October.



I am pleased that I have received reassurance from the Education Department that school crossing patrollers will be in place when the new schools open on Blackness Road in October. I was concerned when I recently heard that 18 crossing where currently without school crossing patrollers. I have been told that the current crossing patrollers serving the schools will move when the new campus opens. I am pleased about this. I will be keeping a close eye on this when the schools open. I know that it is an ongoing problem that does not only happen in Dundee but we need to look at ways of ensuring that enough school crossing patrollers are in place.

National Holocaust Memorial Event

Tonight I attended the National Holocaust Memorial Event which was held this year in the Caird Hall. This was a really challenging and moving event. I was pleased to meet with some of my old friends from The Scottish Inter-Faith Council and Action for Churches Together in Scotland. All those who put the event together deserve a great deal of praise.


Rabbi Bent Melchior spoke movingly of the story of the Danish Jews who were mostly saved from the Concentration Camps largely through the efforts of the Danish people. He spoke about not hating and looking to find ways to ensure that such hatreds are not allowed to rise up in the future.


The 'Do Your Thing' Dance Group performed a challenging piece.


Two Grove Academy pupils told of their recent visit to Auschwitz. It was good to hear the voice of local young people who had taken the time to visit this site with support of the Holocaust Educational Trust. These pupils, who did a fabulous job of their presentation, told how they were sharing their experience with other students in their school.


We also heard about Inside Hana's Suitcase from Fumiko Ishioka, George Brady and Lara Brady. This told the story of George Brady's sister Hana who was murdered in Auschwitz. This was incredibly moving and it was heartbreakingly sad to hear about the story of this little girl of 13 years of age who was killed by the Nazis who wanted to be a teacher and whose story is now, so many years after her death, teaching young people about the need for tolerance, justice and equality.


There was then a brief memorial service which concluded what had been a fascinating and troubling evening.


It is clear that we must remember the Holocaust and the story of all of those who were killed by the Nazis as well as those who have been killed in subsequent genocides. These horrible events happened within living memory and we cannot suggest that they could never happen again. We must remain vigilant and we must speak out against intolerance and hatred. This message comes from the famous poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller 'First they came'

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

The Holocaust Memorial Trust are asking people to 'Speak Up Speak Out'. We should speak up against hatred and discrimination. I've signed the pledge to challenge the language of hatred and commit to using words which reflect respect for the dignity of all human beings. You can sign up here. You can watch the video below about the power of our voices.

City Council Capital Plan

The Administration of the City Council has issued its draft capital plan. The plan can be read here. I would be very interested to hear your views on these proposals.

The biggest spend in the West End would be the refurbished Harris Academy, which is re-announced again. There are a number of areas where it is important to look at the detail of these proposals and I will be seeking to meet with council officers over the next few days to discuss issues around this plan.

It is worth noting that there is an election on the horizon and suddenly the council has awoken out of its inertia and appears to have noticed that there are needs across the city which need to be met. The Labour Group will be examining these proposals. We will certainly be looking for details, I was going to say more details, but there is virtually none at the moment.

Dundee Rep Board Meeting

On Tuesday evening I attended a meeting of the board of Dundee Rep. There was a good discussion about the future programme. It was good to hear about the symposium on pathways into the arts for disabled people. I am sorry that I was not able to attend any of the events associated with this as it seems to have been very successful. There is a lot happening at the Rep over the next few weeks, which I am sure will be worth seeing. There is a Play, a Peh and a Pint performance at Discovery Point; Scottish Dance Theatre and towards the end of February the Ensemble perform Steel Magnolias.

City Council Committees

Monday night saw a variety of City Council Committees. First up was the Education Committee, this includes the school holiday dates for the 2013/14 term. This is obviously useful to parents and helps those who want to book their holidays early! There was also a report on the proposed extension to Kingspark School, I welcome this as Kingspark does a great job and should be supported as much as possible. It is unfortunate that decisions were made without reference to elected members but what is important now is to deliver the best facilities possible to children in Dundee. The Education Department also withdrew their proposals for a uniform 33 period week in secondary schools. We were told that this was essential to deliver the Curriculum for Excellence, if it is not going to happen then what are the Education Department doing to ensure the effective delivery of Curriculum for Excellence? We can't let young people miss out while the Education Department works out the way forward.

The City Development Committee considered a wide range of issues. It included a report on the redevelopment of the Highgate and surrounding area in Lochee. This is an important issue for the city and for people who live in the north of the West End ward who sees Lochee High Street as their local shopping centre. I will be keeping a close eye on this along with my colleague Councillor Tom Ferguson to ensure that the heart is put back into Lochee.

The Social Work and Health Committee looked at future support for adults with a learning difficulty. Importantly this report has been influenced by the views of service users about the services which they needed and wanted. This is how services should be provided with a balance between the views and needs of service users and the professional opinion of council officers.

The Policy and Resources Committee considered a number of reports that had been worked on at the secretive Changing for the Future Board. Including one on how the council deals with mail, this praises the earlier decision to transfer the council's mail to the private sector. This is ironic since councillors want to be able to criticise the performance of the Royal Mail and the Post Office but don't see the contradiction that they have voted to add to the Royal Mail and the Post Office's problems.

The Housing Committee set the rent rise for council tenants for next year. After consultation with tenants the council house rents will rise by 4.75%.

Unusually there was also a Development Management Committee meeting after these service committees. The Development Management Committee considered an appeal of sorts from a property owner who wanted to be allowed to turn townhouses in Larch Street into Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO). When planning permission had been granted for this development the developer had agreed to a voluntary legal agreement known as a Section 75 agreement which meant that the houses could not be used as HMOs. There is an important issue that these entirely voluntary agreements are really useful in planning terms and can be used to protect the nature of communities in the city. If the council relented on this it would open up the floodgates and render these agreements worthless.

In this instance the property owner is saying that they have not been able to make enough money on these properties. This is in some respects a product of the current economic situation. I wonder if the owner had been making enough money whether they would have contacted the council to make a donation out of their profits? I doubt it! Property developers and owners should take the risk in their business it is not the council's role to provide some kind of safety net.

HMOs are very important in the West End they provide standards and safety for people renting properties; they also ensure standards and provide some reassurance about safety for adjacent properties. It is also important that the West End maintains a balance between student accommodation and family accommodation.

DCA Latest Exhibition Jane & Louise Wilson

At the weekend I attended the opening of the latest exhibition at the DCA by Jane and Louise Wilson. This includes some challenging photographs from the town of Pripyat which is within the exclusion zone around Chernobyl. The photographs show the hurried way in which people left the area. The one here shows a swimming pool.

The DCA is a great resource for the city. This exhibition is on until 25 March and is worth a visit.

School Crossing Patrollers at new West End Schools

Today I asked the Education Department of Dundee City Council for an assurance that school crossing patrollers (lollipop men and women) will be in place when the new West End Schools open in October on Blackness Road. I did this after hearing about problems in providing school crossing patrollers at 14 school crossings across the city.



It is important that road safety is given a top priority at the new West End campus from day one. I am asking that the council looks at the areas where there should be crossing patrollers and provides them from day one of the new West End schools.



I understand how difficult it is to staff every school crossing in the city and that dealing with illness is a problem but I do think that we need to give serious thought to looking at ways in which we can ensure that gaps are filled. School crossing patrollers do a great job and we need to ensure that the safety of children on their way to school is promoted.

Dundee Fairtrade Forum

Dundee Fairtrade Forum met on Wednesday morning, the main item for discussion was our plans for Fairtrade Fortnight 2012. Full details of the events planned in Dundee will come out soon but we will have a sugar producer from Malawi, Masauko Khembo, visiting Dundee on 28th and 29th of February.

It is important to remember that we do have a responsibility for how people who produce goods for us are treated. It is also important that there is fairness in world trade. Justice in trade across the world can make a major contribution to peace throughout the world.

I hope that people across Dundee and elsewhere will take a step towards fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight.

West End Schools Project Board

On Tuesday morning I attended a meeting of the West End Schools Project Board. This meeting looks at the progress being made on building the new St Joseph's Primary, the new Park Place Primary to be called Victoria Park and the new nursery to be called Balgay. It was good to see progress being made as you can see from passing the site on a regular basis. It was good to hear about the work which all the schools are doing together in preparation for the move to the new campus in October.

Development Management Committee

Tonight saw the first meeting of the year of the Development Management Committee of Dundee City Council. The main item which brought most debate was over an application to provide Adult Entertainment at Seagate Public House and Nightclub. There was a delegation from the Dundee Violence Against Women Partnership which spoke against the whole idea of an 'adult entertainment club.' They pointed out their belief that such 'lap-dancing' clubs can lead to anti-social behaviour and even violence. We were informed that we could not make 'moral' decisions about this application. Legally, our decision had to be based on 'planning matters.' I was disappointed that we could not make the case that the committee just did not want such an establishment to open in Dundee.

I seconded a motion by Councillor Ken Lynn which moved against this application on the grounds of noise nuisance. The proposed adult entertainment venue would result in concentrations of people congregating outside the site generating instances of significant noise disturbance. I was pleased to speak against this application on this basis. I was pleased that the committee unanimously supported the motion which I put forward and that the council denied planning permission for this club. The applicant has the right to appeal, and may well do this, but as things stand at the moment the pub/nightclub in the Seagate will not be turning into an 'adult entertainment club.'

Tayside Fire & Rescue Performance Monitoring Sub-Committee

The Tayside Fire and Rescue Board's Performance Monitoring Sub-Committee met this morning. The main item on the agenda was the Provisional Revenue Budget for 2012/13. I asked a number of questions on the provisional budget. Firstly, I asked whether the third Ariel Rescue Pump was operational yet. I was told that it was not and that it would become operational during 2012/13. I was also told that the 4 firefighter posts which will be lost as a result of this will be lost by what is called natural wastage.

On income I asked about a fall in income related to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licences. HMO Licences are a big issue in the West End and the fire safety element of these licences provides piece of mind for many people, like myself, who live near HMO properties. There is expected to be a fall in the number of inspections required due to the nature of licences and the cyclical nature of them, also there has been a downturn in the buy-to-let market.

I also asked about a fall in the level of income from officers seconded to the Scottish Government and the Fire Service Training College at Gullane. I was obviously concerned about the possible loss of revenue to Tayside Fire and Rescue but I was much more concerned about whether there is a fall in the level of training going on. I was told by the Chief Fire Officer that officers were not keen to undertake secondments due to the level of uncertainty which there is about the future of the fire service at the moment and that there is a lower level of training going on at the moment at the Fire Service Training College because this is mostly for new recruits and that there are fewer at this time. I was pleased that the Chief Fire Officer was able to say to me that he felt that the level of training offered to firefighters in Tayside continued to meet their needs and the needs of the service.

These are changing times for the fire service in Scotland but it is essential that organisational changes do not get in the way of delivering a high quality service which protects people across Tayside and the rest of Scotland.

International Year of Co-operatives

Today I took part in an event to mark the beginning of the International Year of Co-operatives organised by the Scottish Government's co-operative agency Co-operative Development Scotland. The event took place at the the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative. There was a really interesting presentation from Mike Sweatman the Finance Director of the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative. They have been operating since 1977 and they believe that being a co-operative makes a real difference to their business.

The credit crunch demonstrates that the current dominant model of shareholder owned companies is at the very least not the only model which should be promoted. Indeed, it could be argued that trying to chase profits for shareholder gain is one of the reasons why the credit crunch happened in the first place.

There is scope for an expansion in the co-operative sector right across the economy. I think that empowering either employees or consumers is an important thing to do.

The video below gives an outline of the work and scope of co-operatives across the world.

West End Community Council

I attended the first meeting of the West End Community Council for 2012 on Tuesday evening. There was a very interesting presentation on the work of the soon to be launched Food Train in Dundee. Food Train is a charity with local volunteers, providing a vital grocery delivery service to older people living in the Dundee city area. I think that this is a great idea and I hope that it is really successful. For more information please visit the Food Train website, or phone 459202 or email dundee@thefoodtrain.co.uk.

Alan Young the former chair of the Community Council brought everyone's attention to the Think Jessica campaign. This is a campaign against scam mail, which is a crime and which brings a great deal of distress to victims, who are often elderly. The video here gives a little bit of background to the campaign and its Scottish launch. It includes Tayside's Assistant Chief Constable Angela Wilson talking about how angry she got when she saw the impact scam mail has on victims.

City Council Meeting

Monday evening saw the first meeting of the year of the City Council and its committees. My colleague Kevin Keenan raised the widespread concern amongst councillors that the report to the last education committee was riddled with flaws and that it should have been corrected and brought back to committee rather than railroaded through the committee. The report to the council made no mention of plans to extend Kingspark School, yet since this report was accepted the council has submitted a planning application for an extension to that very school. The Chief Executive did have the good grace to admit that this was not how this should have happened and that the planning application should not have been submitted without council approval at least in principle that the work should take place. That's fine and we can assume that it won't happen again but it does rather beg the question; who is in charge?

At the Environment Committee I spoke on a number of items. Firstly, I spoke on the issue of Camperdown Park. I welcomed the plans to update the Camperdown Park Development Plan. I am proud of the work which went on under previous administrations which resulted in the Development Plan and in the development of things such as the new Visitor Centre at the Wildlife Centre. The picture shows me outside the new Visitor Centre.

I think that it is essential that a long-term sustainable use is found for Camperdown House. I was delighted to join the crowds visiting the house during this year's Flower and Food Festival and I called for a way of opening up the house to the public to be found. I think that this could be the final piece in the jigsaw which allows Camperdown Park to remain a really attractive place to visit.

I am delighted that works are to go ahead on the sensory garden and the inclusive play area. The inclusive play area is a great place for children to enjoy a great day out and I think it is fabulous that it is inclusive and that children of all abilities can play together at this excellent facility.

On the issue of recycling I welcomed the moves to improve recycling and I hope that it will be successful. Dundee has previously been at the forefront of recycling, particularly thanks to the efforts of the late Julie Sturrock, it is important that we continue to aim high with our ambition, and aim towards zero waste for Scotland and for Dundee.

I welcome the plans to extend the number of properties covered by recycling collections and the expansion in the number of Neighbourhood Recycling Points. It is important that the council facilitates easy recycling for every resident in Dundee and I will be looking for the council to continue to find ways of increasing the reach of its recycling efforts.

I think, if it's not too late, that everyone in Dundee could make a New Year's resolution to increase the amount which they recycle.

On the issue of security fencing at Law Allotments I welcome the spending but think that it is disgraceful that it is needed. It is a shame that we need to approve this spending this evening but I recognise that it is necessary. It is disgraceful that allotments need this level of security and those involved in criminal activity should be caught and dealt with.

Allotments are becoming more and more popular and it is right that the council gives support where and when it can.

Belated Happy New Year!

Belatedly I would like to wish all my constituents a very happy new year and hope that it brings everyone peace, health and happiness.

2012 is an important year. I am looking forward to the Olympics and hope that the GB team does well. I am looking forward to attending Olympic football at Hampden. It is great to see that this great international event being brought to Scotland.

In 2012 Scotland is moving towards being a Fairtrade Nation and I certainly support that important goal. We should be concerned about the way people who produce goods or services are treated and that is why fairtrade is important.

The UN has declared 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives. I think that co-operatives can make a real difference to the economy. The economic problems which we are facing just now are in large part due to the reckless behaviour of companies who recklessly sought profit for shareholders without too much thought for the consequences. I think that co-operartive options should be looked at across all policy areas.

Solar Power Legal Ruling

As Labour's Environment spokesperson on Dundee City Council I have called on the UK Government to rethink its plans for solar power. The UK Government's plans have been ruled as being 'legally flawed'. The changes to the plans has resulted in proposals to use Dundee City Council properties to generate electricity being abandoned.

This legal decision shows the folly of the UK Government's plans. However, this legal decision gives the UK Government the chance to think again, I urge them to do just that. I hope that a rethink might allow the plans for Dundee to be revisited and I would hope that this innovative scheme might be up and running before too long.

The scheme proposed for Dundee would have been good for the economy of Dundee, good for tenants in Dundee and good for the environment in Dundee. I was pleased that the City Council agreed a response to the UK Government consultation on feed-in tariffs this week. It is important that we use any opportunity that comes along to produce cost-effective renewable energy.

I agree with my Labour colleague Caroline Flint that the UK Government must think again on this important issue and do what it can to sustainably support the solar power industry.